Season's Greetings
by Sparky75
Summary: Section D manage to get a coveted day off on Christmas Day. A loose follow-up to my first story Checkmate. Merry Christmas one and all.


Well here's my festive offering and despite initially thinking that I may limit my writing to one story, I was persuaded to write another by all your lovely reviews for my last story Checkmate. This is a loose follow-up to that, though hopefully it also works as a standalone. As last time, any reviews will be gratefully received and I hope you enjoy reading this.

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Ruth stretched her back as she stood up after putting the turkey into the oven. It was 8.30 am on Christmas Day and the morning stretched out in front of her, a cup of tea she thought and then onto preparing the veg, potato's, stuffing, gravy not to mention trying to squeeze in 8 chairs around a table which was designed to seat a maximum of 6. Quite how she'd come to be hosting Christmas Dinner for most of the core team on the Grid she wasn't too sure, particularly since she and Harry had been planning on spending a quiet day together, another step in their burgeoning relationship...

Six Days earlier

"So what are your plans for Christmas Jo"? Ruth smiled as she sat down at the meeting room table as they awaited the morning briefing. They were the only two in the room at the time and it had been a mercifully quiet time for them in the run up to Christmas so much so that Section E had been put on standby to cover for Section D in order to give them a much needed break over Christmas and Boxing Day.

"I'm heading over to my parents as soon as we finish up here on Christmas Eve and spending the day with the family." Jo grinned, "they're a little perturbed that I only get a couple of days off and have to come back to London the day after Boxing Day. My dad wasn't convinced that most civil servants worked over the festive period, I had to explain that my boss had decided the quiet time was the perfect opportunity for us to do an audit of dairy farms across the north of England."

Ruth laughed lightly, "where would we be without DEFRA providing us all with a work legend we can give our friends and families."

Jo grinned, "That's very true, at least its vague enough that people generally don't ask many questions about it over pulling crackers and trying to stop my Great Uncle finishing off the sherry by himself. What about you Ruth, what are your plans?"

"Well my mother and stepfather are away on a cruise so I'm planning a day at home, reading some books, drinking some wine and generally relaxing." Ruth felt a twinge of guilt as the lie slipped out, in truth Harry was coming over for the day and they were both looking forward to the opportunity to spend the time together. Ever since she had gone over to his house on the evening of his birthday they had been making ever closer steps towards each other. There had been a number of dinners together followed by a game of chess; somehow it had been easier to speak to each other about personal matters when there had been a game between them to distract them. They'd also managed to visit the cinema once and had driven out of town on a couple of occasions for Sunday lunch in the country. This had all taken place well away from the curious eyes of their colleagues and they were both enjoying the freedom this allowed them to get to know each other away from the claustrophobic atmosphere of the office.

"Sorry, did I hear you correctly?", the blond good looking head of Adam Carter popped around the corner. "You're going to be alone on Christmas Day?" As Ruth nodded in agreement, he continued, "we can't have that, you should spend it with Wes and I."

Ruth's protests that she was quite alright and actually looking forward to it were drowned out by Jo's enthusiasm for the idea, "that's a great idea, no-one should be alone at Christmas, I was just about to ask you to join me at my parents, but you'll probably have far more fun with Wes and Adam."

"Well that's all sorted then," Adam beamed at Ruth and Jo, '"it's a date."

"What's a date?", Zaf strolled into the meeting room with a steaming mug of coffee.

"Ruth is going to spend Christmas with Adam and Wes."

"Well actually..." Ruth tried to interrupt feebly.

"Great idea," Zaf chimed in, "you wouldn't mind if I joined you as well? My family doesn't do Christmas for obvious reasons and I'd just be knocking round the flat alone as Jo is away."

"The more the merrier," smiled Adam.

And that's how it had started, by the time Harry made it to the meeting Malcolm and his mother had also been invited - 'that'd be lovely, mother and I just normally spend it alone so it'd be lovely to have company'; and Ros had also deigned to come along as 'given what's happened over recent months, I'm not really welcome at the family home at the moment.'

"What's all this hubbub, you're not normally this excited unless we've got some dirt on someone on the Cabinet through undercover surveillance?" Harry put his papers on the table as he sat down.

"Christmas Dinner at Ruth's," Zaf beamed, "she very generously invited us all over."

Harry looked over at her with his right eyebrow raised slightly, "Really? That's very kind of you Ruth, didn't you have any other plans?"

"Well actually..."

"She was spending Christmas alone," Jo interjected, "no-one should be alone at Christmas."

"I can actually speak for myself." Ruth retorted, "and I was quite happy to spend Christmas by myself."

"But now you don't have to," Adam smiled, "You're welcome to join us as well Harry? 12.30 at Ruth's, no presents."

Christmas Day

Ruth headed towards the door with a smile on her face, Harry had offered to pop round early ostensibly to give her a hand preparing the food, but really in order that they could spend a little time together before the hordes descended. She knew he'd been a little concerned that having everyone over for Christmas Dinner had been a way for her to pull back from him again, and as much as she'd tried to reassure him that that wasn't the case, she could still sense the lingering doubt in his eyes, still, she hoped her Christmas present for him would prove that the last thing on her mind was getting cold feet again. She opened the door and..."Zaf... I wasn't expecting you yet, I thought we said 12.30?"

"Merry Christmas" he said as he passed her on his way into the house pausing briefly to drop a quick kiss onto her cheek. "I was rattling around in the flat by myself this morning, so I thought why not pop over to yours early and I can give you a hand in the kitchen."

Ruth had just closed the door behind him as he disappeared into her kitchen when the doorbell rang again. She opened the door and was immediately hit in the legs by a very excited dog and reached down to pet her. "Hello Scarlett, merry Christmas, I hope Harry has given you some treats this morning?'"

"She's been spoilt rotten, she's managed to wangle half my bacon and a couple of sausages." Harry smiled down at the little dog as he shut the door behind him, "I hope you're as glad to see me as you are her?" He smiled at her before leaning towards her to kiss her...

"Harry, I thought I heard your voice." Harry and Ruth pulled back from each other quickly as Zaf came back into the hall and shook Harry's hand, "Merry Christmas" he looked around them, "Where's the booze? I thought you were bringing it over?"

Harry groaned inwardly, scarcely able to believe that Zaf had managed to drag himself anywhere at this time of the morning on his day off, he was notorious in the office for not being a morning person "It's in the car." He threw the keys over, "you can make yourself useful and go and fetch it." As Zaf left the house he hissed, "what's he doing here at this time."

Ruth rubbed his arm gently, "I think he was feeling a little lonely so he decided to head over to give me a hand, it's a nice gesture really."

"Very noble," Harry huffed. "Well I suppose I better go and help him..."

With the drink brought in and Harry quickly overcoming his disappointment in not being able to greet Ruth in the way he had wanted, the three of them managed to get all the food prepped with Ruth setting Zaf to peeling potato's and Harry chopping up carrots and slicing parsnips, all helped along with generous glasses of bucks fizz and carols from Kings College, Cambridge playing on the CD player.

With the turkey in the oven and the veg bubbling away on the stove, Ruth sat her two helpers in the lounge with a glass of wine each while she put the finishing touches to the table leaving them both with the strict instructions to let everyone in, give them a drink and to not let them into the kitchen unless it was Malcolm who had volunteered to bring dessert after waxing lyrical about his mothers famous sherry trifle. She was glad of a few moments alone, she had sensed Harry's disappointment when he'd arrived to find Zaf already ensconced and even though the thought of being discovered spending time with Harry outside of work shouldn't faze her given they were both single, she still couldn't shake the feeling that not only would people be talking about them, her relationship with all her colleagues would change and they'd automatically treat her differently. She knew now having spent time with Harry getting to know him. that should someone find out about them she'd react differently this time, still it was a bridge she was quite willing to cross another time rather than today.

Harry poured Malcolm's mother, Ethel, a small sherry as Malcolm disappeared into the kitchen laden not only with a huge trifle, but also a platter of mince-pies and what looked suspiciously like a Christmas cake balanced on top. All offers of help had been refuted and all Malcolm had said was, "Mother's been baking." He looked around the crowded room chuckling to himself as he noticed a very excited Wes giving Ros a blow by blow account of each and every present Father Christmas had brought him that morning; with anyone else Ros would no doubt have made a cutting remark and left the other person standing there looking gormless, but it seemed even Ros had time for a little boy who was spending his first Christmas without his mother. Adam was looking remarkably composed on what he knew would be a difficult day for him, chatting to Zaf, each of them with a beer in hand. He was keen to go and look for Ruth, but felt his presence probably wouldn't be welcome at that time, for all everyone had talked about a team lunch it was Ruth who had ended up doing the bulk of the work, albeit with some assistance from himself and Zaf.

"Grubs up", Malcolm's face peered around the door as the group headed towards the kitchen and squeezed themselves around the table. Malcolm had taken it upon himself to become Ruth's kitchen hand and his ability to quickly tidy the kitchen before helping Ruth lay out the food had been a godsend for her. He directed everyone to their seats making sure that he and Ruth had easy access to the counter-tops, that his mother was sat close to him, and for the simple fact that he had a small inkling that Ruth had never planned on spending Christmas Day alone, he manoeuvred Harry into the seat next to hers. He hoped his sixth-sense was right, as he still felt a little guilty for putting his size nines right in it after their first date.

Crackers were pulled, jokes were told... and routinely groaned at, paper hats adorned everyone's head (apart from Ros'), too much food was eaten and toasts were made. "To absent friends", Harry charged his glass as he made the toast, "and thanks to Ruth, who put together this magnificent lunch and to Ethel, for possibly the best trifle I've ever eaten." A moment of mild panic, when 6 phones went off in unison, turned into laughter moments later when it was realised that rather than a dreaded 'red flash', it was Jo sending them a group text wishing them all Merry Christmas and reminding them all not to indulge too much!

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed in a blur. The Queen's speech was watched and discussed, mince-pies and Christmas cake were washed down, initially with cups of teas and then large glasses of port before Adam took charge and announced that Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without games and with the eight of them divided into two teams a boisterous game of charades took place with Malcolm's mother being the surprising star, despite the fact that she nodded of for a quick 40 winks on one occasion. This was followed by a competitive game of Trivial Pursuits as dusk turned to night and the Christmas lights twinkled even brighter on the small tree in the corner of the room.

Adam looked over at Wes who was fast asleep in the corner of the sofa with Fidget nestled into his side and Scarlett asleep at his feet. It had been a long day for him and he was glad that there had been people around all-day, both for Wes' sake and his own. He hadn't been looking forward to Christmas at all, but it had been a surprisingly fun day; it wasn't often the core team, minus Jo, managed to let their hair down together. The party was now winding down, Malcolm and his mother had been making signs they would be heading off shortly and it was really time he got Wes to bed. Harry and Ruth were sat close together, their heads inches apart, quietly discussing what sounded like a more controversial part of the Queen's speech; he hoped that at some stage they managed to find their way back to each other; they really did seem uniquely suited and Adam had never seen anyone manage Harry in the way Ruth did. If anyone deserved a shot of happiness those two certainly did and Zaf had whispered to him at lunch at one stage that he was convinced they were holding hands underneath the table; despite not being able to imagine Harry holding hands with anyone, he really did hope that was the case and had warned Zaf to lay off any teasing comments he may have been thinking of making. And on the subject of Zaf, it seemed that only he and Ros were planning to settle in for the long haul; they'd just opened another bottle of port and seemed to be involved in a good natured argument about the rules, and the bending of said rules in a range of traditional board-games of which Monopoly seemed to be the current hot topic.

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Ruth stacked the last plate in the dishwasher before pouring herself another glass of merlot with a sigh. She had hardly had a moment to herself all day and much as she liked the people she worked with and had actually ended up enjoying herself more than she thought she would, she had been glad when Zaf and Ros had finally left. This was coupled with the disappointment that Harry had chosen to leave with Malcolm and Adam, when she'd hoped that they'd manage to at least snatch sometime alone together once everyone else had left.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a soft tap at the back door and opened it to find a very cold looking Section Head shivering and holding Scarlett in his arms. "I take it they've finally gone?" he questioned.

"Yes, they left about 10 minutes ago." She reached out to him and touched his face, "Harry you're freezing," she pulled him into the warmth of the kitchen shutting the door behind him. "Please tell me you've not been out there all this time?"

"In a manner of speaking. When I left with Malcolm and Adam, I hoped Zaf and Ros would join us and I was planning a quick stroll round the block with Scarlett before heading back here." He smiled wryly, "My plan didn't work obviously."

"No, they finished the port and then opened another bottle of wine and restarted the discussion of whether the answers on the cards of my old box of Trivial Pursuit should still be accepted even if they were no longer correct."

"Bloody Princess Anne and Zara Phillips." Harry huffed, "Who'd have guessed that a question about the last member of the British royal family to represent the UK in the Olympics would cause such issues!"

Ruth laughed gently, "well they've gone now and will likely be feeling the affects of a hangover tomorrow... and I'm very happy that you decided to come back even if does mean that you've had to skulk around outside for the last hour."

Harry smiled bashfully before taking her hands and pulling her towards him softly, "well I realised I hadn't had chance to do this all day", with that his lips met hers and their arms wound around each other as the kiss slowly deepened.

Harry pulled back slightly from Ruth after a few minutes and rested his forehead against hers, "well that was nearly worth waiting all day for" he whispered softly.

"Only nearly?" Ruth smiled back up at him, "Just think if we'd have managed to spend the day as originally planned then there may have been a lot more of this."

Harry groaned as he loosened his hold on her and took his coat off, "chance would have been a fine thing, instead we got an in-depth discussion on sprouts, some terrible jokes from the Christmas Crackers and an animated discussion on whether mince pies were still illegal to eat on Christmas Day due to some old obsolete law."

"True, but in a way I'm glad our plans were thwarted." As Harry looked at her questioningly she continued, "It was Adam and Wes's first Christmas without Fiona and it's likely that Ros and Zaf would have spent the day alone as well."

"And you call me a big softy."

"Only once, and you were being at the time." They both smiled as they recalled the moment in Harry's office when Harry had been devising questions in order to quiz suitable nannies for Wes.

"Anyway, Miss Evershed, the main reason I came back tonight was to give you this." Harry reached over and handed Ruth a small thin oblong package. "Merry Christmas Ruth," he added as he reached over and kissed her softly once again.

"And here I was thinking you'd just come back for the last mince pie." Ruth joked as she opened the present, a small delicate silver watch "oh, it's lovely Harry, thank you." She smiled up at him as she put the watch on. "It's even telling the right time... it's getting late, I can't believe how quickly today has gone."

"I should go then," Harry said quietly, hoping he didn't sound too disappointed. He'd been hoping to at least spend a little time alone with her on Christmas Day.

"That's not what I meant." She looked over at Scarlett asleep by the radiator before taking his hand and smiling at him. "I was thinking you could stay here tonight... if you'd like to of course."

Harry's answer was in his smile as he pulled her towards him again and bent his head to kiss her deeply before pulling back and murmuring against her lips "I think that's the best present you could have given me."

"Oh, I don't know." Ruth took his hand and led him towards the stairs, "I've got us tickets to see Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House in March."

Harry smiled broadly as he followed her up the stairs. She was right, that was an even better present, the tickets were a nice touch but much more than that was the commitment she'd shown in buying the tickets for them months in advance; he knew it was her way of saying that she wasn't going to get spooked again and change her mind and it now looked like they both had a future to look forward to together.

The End and Merry Christmas.


End file.
